Bronies? A positive development to see so many (young) men embrace a cartoon supposed to be watched by five year old girls, or somewhat creepy? MetaFilter is conflicted.
But I do get it. Having watched some episodes/extracts now, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does have all the elements that make a cartoon a cult hit for adults: clever writing, strong but not cliched characters, everything just that much better than it needed to be for a cartoon designed to sell toys. Put that together with people old enough to remember the first My Littel Pony and be nostalgic for it and it’s no wonder it does well with an adult audience too. It’s just a surprise that many in that audience are men. After all, weren’t men supposed to reject anything that didn’t star some alpha male, yet here they are voluntarily watching a show with female characters and only a couple of token males. And that has to be a good thing, hasn’t it?
Even if I have my doubts about seeing something meant for little girls taken over by grown men, no matter how benign this takeover is.
And yet…